You may well be correct. Every time I had this problem the first non-null
record much farther down.

An other thing I tried to correct this problem was to move a record to the
top, link the table, then move the record back to it's original spot. No
good! The same thing happens. Apparently everytime the database is opened,
it re-defines the datatype of the Linked sheet. Maddening!
--
--Roger Carlson
www.rogersaccesslibrary.com
Reply to: Roger dot Carlson at Spectrum-Health dot Org


"Lynn Trapp" wrote in message
...
Roger,
If memory serves me correctly, Access actually searches the first 10 or 15
rows to determine a data type on a link or import. Thus, if it finds text
in
ANY of those test rows it will make the column a text datatype. I don't
know
for sure how it handles NULLs in those first rows, but probably as you
suggest.

--
Lynn Trapp
MS Access MVP
www.ltcomputerdesigns.com
Access Security: www.ltcomputerdesigns.com/Security.htm


"Roger Carlson" wrote in message
...
Is the column mostly blank? With this number appearing a hundred or
more
records down? If so, it is a problem that I have experienced with
linked
Excel tables too. It seems that when it is linked, Access looks at the
first hundred or so records to see what data type it is. If it finds no
values, it makes it Text. If it subsequently runs into numbers after it
is
linked, it displays #NUM.

I don't have any real good solution for this. You can't change the
datatype
after linking, and you can't define it as number during the linking.
(At
least I've not found a way to do so.) The only solution I have found is
to
physically move a whole row that has a value in this column to the top
of
the sheet. Then it will read the datatype correctly.

If anyone has a better solution, I'd love to hear it.

--
--Roger Carlson
www.rogersaccesslibrary.com
Reply to: Roger dot Carlson at Spectrum-Health dot Org


"Dkline" wrote in message
...
I have a linked Excel file. Within that file is a field/column of
numbers.

When I look at it in Excel - I see the numbers.

When I look at in Access - I see #Num! When I see it in the Form, I
don't -
the field is blank.

What is the #Num! telling me - that it is not a number? If it's a
number
in
Excel, why wouldn't Access see it as a number.

The numbers are not overly large. Range is 1,000,000 to 100,000,000.